Teenager Luke finishes epic walk to ‘honour...

A Long Lee teenager has braved the country’s harshest winter in nearly 30 years to complete an epic sponsored walk for the men and women of Britain’s armed forces.

Luke Terry took part in the “Honour Our Troops” trek from Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire, to Aldershot Garrison, in Hampshire, starting on January 4 and arriving at the destination last Friday.

He was one of only three people to finish the entire 507-mile route. Luke, 16, is a former Oakbank School pupil who is currently taking a course in public service at the Keighley Campus of Leeds City College.

He plans to become an infantryman in the army.

He and his fellow walkers were sponsored to collect money for a morale-boosting outdoor concert for troops, which will be shown in Afghanistan, Iraq, Cyprus and Germany. Among the local walkers who completed sections of the route, which passed through Keighley, were Keighley women Pauline Terry — who is Luke’s mother — and Maria Graham. Also participating were the Harrogate to Leeds leg organiser Sue Gow, of Oakworth, and Emma O’Neill, a former Keighley resident who now lives in Bradford. Pauling said she and Luke hoped to have raised about £800 between them.